Said Snape | Said Malfoy | Said Voldemort
Hi everyone! I'm trying out a new way of analyzing speech in the HP series. In my previous installments, I used a method breaking descriptors down by part of speech, so as to better reflect the exact phrasings and constructions used in the series. However, I have been thinking about changing this up going forward, by combining all descriptors across parts of speech and breaking them out semantically. That's what I did here—please let me know what you think!
Riddle/Voldemort's speech is described as:
About a fifth of the time when Voldemort’s (or Riddle’s) speech is described, it is to denote the softness of his volume (e.g. “quietly”, “softly”, or “whispering”). The second most common descriptor conveys an icy tone: e.g. “cold” or “cool”, followed by a high pitch: e.g. “high”, “high-pitched”, or “shrill”. Coming close behind words denoting pitch are words denoting a strong, negative, anger-based emotion: e.g. “furious”, “shouting”, “shrieking”, “screeching”.
Although not the most common descriptor for Voldemort/Riddle’s speech, it is notable that he is the character in the series whose speech is most often described with snake-like, sibilant hissing— fitting for the notorious Parselmouth.
If we break down the prevalence of these descriptors by Voldemort’s timeline, some interesting patterns emerge:
As a child, Riddle is most likely to speak in a politely controlled fashion, demonstrating an understanding of power hierarchies (he’s speaking to adults) and a desire to manage perceptions. This suggests a wary and mistrustful view of authority figures.
Looking across Riddle’s childhood, teen, and young adult years together, we see that his speech is most often characterized as soft (e.g. quiet, soft, whispered) followed by controlled (e.g. calm, careful, pleasant, measured) and impatient (e.g. quick, sharp, sudden, interrupting). The somewhat contradictory set of vocal descriptions in his youth (impatient vs controlled/polite) illustrates a tension present in young Riddle; although he’s ambitious, thirsty for knowledge, and strives for distinction, he remains highly conscious of how he is perceived. Riddle very rarely displays vocal indicators of aggression or anger, instead learning to use his charisma to get what he wants, as Dumbledore says the following about Riddle’s skill in this regard:
“He showed no sign of outward arrogance or aggression at all… He seemed polite, quiet, and thirsty for knowledge. Nearly all were most favorably impressed by him.”
Teenage Tom Riddle, preserved as a horcrux, confirms that he used his charm to manipulate starting from a young age:
“If I say it myself, Harry, I’ve always been able to charm the people I needed.”
His high tone becomes a key feature of his voice in his teen years and above, and the most negative descriptors used for his tone (e.g. “dreadful”, “dangerous”, “malicious”, “cruel”, “inhuman”, “merciless”, etc.) don’t appear until Riddle himself becomes inhuman and creates his first horcrux, the diary.
Another notable feature of Voldemort’s vocalizations is his amused tone. Voldemort’s laugh and amused tone only emerge in Riddle’s teen years; it seems Riddle may not have had much reason to laugh in the orphanage. But Riddle/Voldemort as a teen and above relishes wielding his power, and often laughs as he faces others’ distress. He has a dark, sinister sense of humor and delights in irony (when he recognizes it). Riddle/Voldemort’s humor is not simply performative; he indulges in it even while alone with his victims, and clearly finds himself hilarious.
As the years go on and Riddle remakes himself into Lord Voldemort, he loses the need to impress or charm authority figures and emerges as one himself. For example, when Voldemort returns to Hogwarts to request the DADA position, Voldemort no longer bothers to strike a polite or pleasant tone in an attempt to persuade, instead speaking softly and contemptuously. Compared to Riddle, Lord Voldemort is more likely than ever to speak softly, with descriptors denoting his youthful impatience and politeness all but disappearing and “cold” and “high” becoming ever more prominent.
After Voldemort’s initial defeat, when Voldemort exists as a spirit and in his rudimentary baby form, the most common description of his voice is “cold” or “cool”. There is also a lack of contemptuous descriptors of speech in Voldemort’s non-corporeal form; perhaps he is too weakened, too dependent to engage in his usual sneering and jeering.
Upon his regeneration in Goblet of Fire, Voldemort’s anger is close to the surface and emerges more often in his vocal indicators; Voldemort has been severely disappointed by his followers, and doesn’t hold back. Voldemort’s angry vocalizations peak in Deathly Hallows, as Voldemort embarks upon attempt after attempt to kill Harry Potter, and fails.
Misc. notes: There is a notable similarity in the vocal descriptions of Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, and Severus Snape, as all three men have a tendency to speak softly/quietly and coolly/coldly/icily. @saintsenara (x) and @sideprince (x) have suggested Snape’s quiet, cold intimidation was learned from Voldemort, and it’s very likely Voldemort, as the most significant influence on these men’s lives for a time, served as a model for one or both of them.
There are some interesting differences, however. Lucius is somewhat more likely to speak contemptuously (sneering, jeering, drawling), and Snape is more likely to speak impatiently (sharply, curtly, barking, interrupting). Another distinction between the three is the tendency to express positive emotions vocally, or to laugh. Lucius, though his tone may hold delight, rarely laughs. Snape never expresses any delight vocally, and never laughs. Snape has the most varied descriptors of the three (almost 2x as many as Voldemort, and about 2.5x Malfoy’s), which makes sense given his relative presence in the story, as well as his more complicated characterization.
*This is by no means meant to be the definitive, exhaustive analysis of Voldemort’s speech. This was completed doing simple searches for dialogue with “Voldemort” and “Riddle” and Harry’s dreams/visions, so it’s entirely possible that I’ve missed a couple instances.
